14 November 2014

El Bateig i el Casament

"Baptism and Marriage" in English. I took these photos in the Barri Gótic in Barcelona. These quaint tiles can be found on many of the street corners and side streets in that medieval tangle of a neighborhood. The scene below, is translated "Here the People Celebrated." True.

These panels being close together, I initially assumed it was just the typical Catholic experience: marriage, then the inevitable baptisms. And I really enjoyed the intersection of the faith, folk art and the daily neighborhood life that used to be a staple of European neighborhoods.

In Spain, even in Barcelona, where the style of piety is not entirely Spanish in feel, there are shrines and statues all over the place-- in niches carved in the buildings, in shops, on the street, and of course in homes. This photo of a beautiful shrine to St. Joseph comes from another part of town:

Well, all of this reminded me then, and reminds me now, why the Synod's attempted abandonment of Christ's teaching on marriage and the Eucharist is so dangerous and scandalous. Why we must resist this effort today, next year, and always. Why we care so much about faithful Cardinals like Burke and Pell facing persecution by modernists in the Vatican. Why we stand in solidarity with them, and with the unchangeable Truth Christ gave to His Church.

It is what Catholics used to know so instinctively that it formed a part of the art and culture of their daily lives:

Baptism and Marriage. Here the People Celebrated.

May St. Joseph, the head of the Holy Family and Patron of the Universal Church, protect us all. God bless you and your families.

A Day That Will Live in Glory

Pray for the Four Cardinals: Burke, Caffarra, Meiser and Brandmuller

“You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day."